A bruising battle over medical
marijuana legislation in the Illinois House took a surprise -- and disappointing
-- turn Thursday as John Walters, head of the Office
of
National Drug Control Policy, swooped into Springfield to persuade
members of a committee considering the bill to vote against it. The Thursday
hearing and vote are only a temporary setback for medical marijuana patients
and their supporters, however, since the same committee will have a chance
to vote again on the measure later this session.

The campaign to pass a medical
marijuana bill in Illinois has already been remarkable for the mobilization
of forces on both sides of the issue. Spearheaded in-state by Illinois
Drug Education and Legislative Reform, which has enlisted an impressive
array of state medical groups behind the measure, the effort is also being
supported by the Marijuana Policy Project,
which has brought television talk show host and medical marijuana user
Montel Williams on board on the bill's behalf.

Opposition to the measure
has been equally active, led by drug czar Walters' former deputy, Andrea
Barthwell. In a series
of speaking engagements across the state in the last two months, Barthwell
has made the usual arguments against medical marijuana, including describing
the effort as a "hoax" perpetrated by "drug legalizers." Aided and abetted
by a coterie of professional drug warriors, including former DEA head Peter
Bensinger and Educating Voices leader Judy Kramer (the newsletter is a
publication of the prohibitionist Drug Prevention
Network of the Americas, Barthwell has been the public face of opposition
to the bill. It is also opposed by law enforcement groups, such as the
Illinois Association of Police Chiefs. But as Walters' surprise appearance
at Thursday's hearing indicates, opposition to the measure is coming straight
out of the White House as well.

The bill in question, House
Bill 407, the Illinois Medical Cannabis Act, was introduced by Chicago
Democrat Rep. Larry McKeon, an HIV sufferer, and would allow people with
debilitating diseases such as cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and chronic
pain to legally possess up to two and a half ounces of marijuana and up
to 12 cannabis plants. Patients would have to register with the Illinois
Department of Health to obtain an ID card that would exempt them from arrest
and prosecution. The bill would also allow for designated caregivers to
grow marijuana for patients who are unable to do so.

For McKeon and co-sponsor
Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago), the bill is all about getting medicine
to patients. "Through the grace of God and modern chemistry I'm doing fairly
well," McKeon told the Moline Dispatch last weekend. "I don't know if my
health was to progress to cancer or (something else) what I would do, but
I'd like to have the opportunity without being criminalized in the process."

"This is a health-care bill.
It's not a law-enforcement bill. It's not a drug bill," added Fritchey.
"This is a bill that is about compassion and a recognition that traditional
medicines don't always work in all circumstances."

Bill supporters were confident
of a favorable vote earlier this week. "We're expecting a vote this week
and we're expecting to win," said MPP communications director Bruce Mirken
Wednesday.

"We are very confident we
can get this passed," said IDEAL Reform executive director Matt Atwood
the same day. "If we don't have the votes Thursday, we can come back again
later."

But bill supporters were
blindsided by Walters' appearance at the Thursday hearing. Taking full
advantage of his prerogatives as a high federal honcho, Walters roared
up to the capitol in a motorcade of SUVs replete with a high-visibility
security detail and proceeded to testify for an hour. The stature of the
federal drug czar was enough to raise doubts in the minds of committee
members, leaving the measure defeated by a margin of 4-7 at its first hearing.
"We didn't know he was coming," said Atwood. "He testified against the
bill, he lobbied the members, he pulled one of the Republicans out of the
committee, and after Walters was done, we lost that first vote," he told
DRCNet early Thursday afternoon.

The testimony of Walters
and other opponents of medical marijuana outweighed the passionate appeals
of doctors and medical marijuana patients, who testified to the suffering
they endured attempting to use a medicine that can get them arrested. One
of the patients lined up to testify Thursday was Brenda Kratovil of Waukegan.
Kratovil, who suffers from glaucoma and multiple sclerosis, told DRCNet
Wednesday she had already been raided twice and was tired of being worried
about the police. "I have already been convicted of possession of a marijuana
plant," she said. "That is a felony. I've never been arrested before in
my life, and I don't like being known as a felon. I want protection from
the police," said Kratovil, who is legally blind. "It's no fun having them
raid you and treat you like a drug dealer. They knew as soon as they looked
at me that I was no drug dealer, but they still charged me."

The committee also heard
from Irv Rosenfeld, one of a handful of people nationwide approved by the
federal government to use marijuana medicinally under a since discontinued
federal program. "This medicine should be in the hands of physicians, not
politicians or the police," he said.

For his pains, Rosenfeld
found himself briefly detained by Illinois Capitol Police as soon as he
left the committee room. But once the police were educated as to Rosenfeld's
protected status, he was released, Atwood told DRCNet. "He's free now;
he's standing right beside me," he reported.

"What happened to me illustrates
why this bill is necessary," Rosenfeld said moments later. "For 22 years,
I have received my medical marijuana directly from the federal government,
and yet after I spoke, I was stopped and detained by the police. Had this
been any other patient, they would be in jail now, no matter how sick they
are or how much pain they are in. Medical marijuana has enabled me to live
a normal life and have a successful career as a stockbroker, and it's not
fair that only a few of us have legal access to this medicine while so
many others with the same need are forced to risk jail for it every day."

While pronouncing themselves
disappointed with Thursday's results, bill supporters are prepared to fight
on. "We will have a chance for another vote, probably in the next month,"
Atwood said. "Members today expressed some concerns about specific portions
of the bill they want reconsidered. We will work with them on that, and
then we'll be able to pass it out of committee," he predicted.

Rep. McKeon had a few harsh
words to say after the vote. "I can't remember ever seeing any White House,
Republican or Democrat, put such a massive effort and spend so many taxpayer
dollars trying to quash a state bill just having its first hearing," he
said. "This is an outrageous misuse of tax dollars, and I am distressed
that my fellow Democrats couldn't muster the courage to resist this White
House
interference."

With more to come, it has
already been a bruising battle. Barthwell's statewide speaking tour at
first generated largely uncritical coverage, especially in smaller down-state
newspapers, but also generated openings for bill supporters to fight back.
Rep. McKeon lambasted Barthwell for her lies and distortions in an op-ed
in the Chicago Sun-Times, and Montel Williams also contributed an op-ed
in favor of the measure. McKeon challenged Barthwell to debate him on the
topic -- an offer she has so far been able to refuse.

"We've been in hand to hand
combat with our friend Andrea Barthwell," said MPP's Mirken. "I'm really
tempted to send her a dozen roses for all the help she has provided by
discrediting the message on the other side. She has been saying things
that are clearly nonsensical, and we have been able to publicly call her
on it. She has been going around the state simply lying about the issue.
And I think it is very telling that this woman who says this is all a hoax
and we are using patients won't debate the sponsor of the bill, who is
a person living with AIDS."

Mirken also lauded Montel
Williams' decision to get involved in the issue. "Having Montel out there
dynamites the whole notion that the poor patients are being exploited by
this terrible band of drug legalizers," he said. "We've been working with
Montel for quite a while, and one of the things he offered was to do an
op-ed piece. He is very committed to this issue, and he has good reason
to, given his experiences."

After high hopes for a quick
and easy passage were dashed Thursday, bill supporters are preparing for
a new round of lobbying and politicking. With a 2002 poll showing that
67% of Illinoisans support medical marijuana -- that figure rises to 77%
if the patient is terminally ill -- the measure clearly enjoys popular
support. Now the question is how to translate that support into a victory
at the statehouse in the face of entrenched opposition from law enforcement,
local drug war entrepreneurs like Barthwell, and her former boss, the drug
czar.

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